Bitcoin (BTC) briefly surged past the $37,000 mark for the first time in 18 months as optimism spreads over the prospect of spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETF) being approved in the United States.
Data from various cryptocurrency market platforms, including Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, indicated BTC/USD hitting $37,073 at 7:47 am Eastern Time on Nov. 9 before dropping back below the mark.
Bitcoin Futures were also trading over $37,000 soon after, with price data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reaching as high as $37,450 at 5:22 am ET.
The recent surge in Bitcoin’s price has been attributed to the potential approval of 12 separate spot Bitcoin ETFs in the coming week. According to Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has until Nov. 17 to approve several high-profile offerings from prominent U.S. fund managers.
While there is a lot of excitement over the potential approval of these highly-anticipated BTC products, both analysts have also noted that there could be a delay of a month or more before these offerings actually launch.
Meanwhile, Grayscale, the largest cryptocurrency asset manager in the U.S., has reportedly been in direct discussions with the SEC to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to a spot Bitcoin ETF. The U.S. has yet to see a spot Bitcoin ETF approved, allowing investors to gain indirect exposure to a financial product backed by BTC.
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